Trump Doubles Down on Greenland Threats in Flurry of Truth Social Posts

President Trump posted private messages from France’s president and repeated his desire to take over Greenland in an overnight social media storm.President Trump returning to the White House early on Tuesday.Credit...Eric Lee for The New York TimesJan. 20, 2026, 5:23 a.m. ETPresident Trump lobbed social media posts at European leaders as he doubled down on his desire to take Greenland for the United States in the early hours of Tuesday.“There can be no going back,” Mr. Trump wrote on social media about his designs on Greenland, which have shaken the foundations of the NATO alliance.The flurry of social media messages addressed several European countries.Mr. Trump shared messages from President Emmanuel Macron of France, which a senior French official confirmed were authentic.“I do not understand what you are doing on Greenland,” Mr. Macron wrote in the messages. The French leader also invited Mr. Trump to dinner in Paris on Thursday and offered to set up a meeting there of the Group of 7 countries — with additional invitations to the Russians, Ukrainians, Danes and Syrians.It was not immediately clear whether Mr. Trump responded to Mr. Macron’s messages.Mr. Trump also shared a message from Mark Rutte, NATO’s secretary general, in which Mr. Rutte said he was “committed to finding a way forward on Greenland.” An official at NATO said the exchange was authentic.Mr. Trump said that he had spoken with Mr. Rutte and reiterated his claims that American control of Greenland was essential for the security of the United States and of the world.“We are the only POWER that can ensure PEACE throughout the World,” Mr. Trump wrote as he insisted on American military might. “And it is done, quite simply, through STRENGTH!”Mr. Trump also lashed out at British plans to relinquish control of one of the Chagos Islands, in the Indian Ocean, calling it an “act of GREAT STUPIDITY” and saying it was “another in a very long line of National Security reasons why Greenland has to be acquired.”The messages from Mr. Trump follow weeks of renewed tensions over Greenland. He recently threatened to slap steep tariffs on European allies and linked his push for Greenland to not winning the Nobel Peace Prize.Greenland, a majority Indigenous, semiautonomous Danish territory, has said that it is not for sale. Its leader said last week that Greenlanders would rather stay part of the Danish kingdom, its former colonizer, than join the Americans.But Mr. Trump has not stopped.On Tuesday, he posted a computer-generated image of himself planting a flag on Greenland. The image features a wooden placard that reads: “Greenland, US TERRITORY, EST. 2026.”Ségolène Le Stradic contributed reporting from Paris.Amelia Nierenberg is a Times reporter covering international news from London.SKIP Site IndexNewsHome PageU.S.WorldPoliticsNew YorkEducationSportsBusinessTechScienceWeatherThe Great ReadObituariesHeadwayVisual InvestigationsThe MagazineArtsBook ReviewBest Sellers Book ListDanceMoviesMusicPop CultureTelevisionTheaterVisual ArtsLifestyleHealthWellFoodRestaurant ReviewsLoveTravelStyleFashionReal EstateT MagazineOpinionToday's OpinionColumnistsEditorialsGuest EssaysOp-DocsLettersSunday OpinionOpinion VideoOpinion AudioMoreAudioGamesCookingWirecutterThe AthleticJobsVideoGraphicsTrendingLive EventsCorrectionsReader CenterTimesMachineThe Learning NetworkSchool of The NYTinEducationAccountSubscribeManage My AccountHome DeliveryGift SubscriptionsGroup SubscriptionsGift ArticlesEmail NewslettersNYT LicensingReplica EditionTimes Store